Windows 10 free upgrade

[bag 'o' bones]

As you all know Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to windows 10 for older machines running 7/8/8.1 until July and then will charge for the upgrade after that.

 

My question is if you have an upgraded machine which then suffers some catastrophic failure requiring a complete re-install where would we stand in relation to the upgrade? Would we have to pay for it or does Microsoft have some record?

 

have googled it cant seem to find an answer!

Edited June 24, 2016 by bag 'o' bones

[Guest]

As you all know Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to windows 10 for older machines running 7/8/8.1 until July and then will charge for the upgrade after that.

 

My question is if you have an upgraded machine which then suffers some catastrophic failure requiring a complete re-install where would we stand in relation to the upgrade? Would we have to pay for it or does Microsoft have some record?

 

have googled it cant seem to find an answer!

 

My understanding is that you can wind it back, obviously if it has failed catastrophically you might not be able to do that but if you have your original installation back up media/files you will be able to.

 

You could then leave it as it is knowing it's probably not suitable for you machine or try an upgrade again.

 

(I thought MS kept a record these days of 'legit' software serial numbers so they should know its been upgrade shouldn't they when you try to activate/install it?

[OldGoat]

If anyone's bothered about a catastrophic failure then either setup a decent backup scheme and/or don't take the update in place option, but download the ISO version and save it to a stick / DVD.

[X Alan W]

 

My understanding is that you can wind it back, obviously if it has failed catastrophically you might not be able to do that but if you have your original installation back up media/files you will be able to.

 

You could then leave it as it is knowing it's probably not suitable for you machine or try an upgrade again.

 

(I thought MS kept a record these days of 'legit' software serial numbers so they should know its been upgrade shouldn't they when you try to activate/install it?

I wouldn't hold your breath the "bumph" on windows upgraded my lap top from 7 to 10 without giving me any option it did it as an "Installing upgrades do not turn off your computer" After around an hour I realized it had installed W10 when the computer resumed working Every thing was fine for around 10 days then it kept coming up on the screen that my machine was NOT RUNNING GENUINE WINDOWS After around 20 Emails & 10 or so phone calls I finally got through to some one who agreed that THEY had installed it as an update, no apology, no choice, + i liked the 7 better but I was told if I went back it would more than likely be "Upgraded to 10 as their aim is to phase out the earlier packages.

[Guest]

I wouldn't hold your breath the "bumph" on windows upgraded my lap top from 7 to 10 without giving me any option it did it as an "Installing upgrades do not turn off your computer" After around an hour I realized it had installed W10 when the computer resumed working Every thing was fine for around 10 days then it kept coming up on the screen that my machine was NOT RUNNING GENUINE WINDOWS After around 20 Emails & 10 or so phone calls I finally got through to some one who agreed that THEY had installed it as an update, no apology, no choice, + i liked the 7 better but I was told if I went back it would more than likely be "Upgraded to 10 as their aim is to phase out the earlier packages.

I quite liked 7 (in MS terms), hated 8, but my wife's machine upgraded to 10 the other day, and much though it hurts me to say it, it seems fine. Might even use it a bit.

[Guest]

I quite liked 7 (in MS terms), hated 8, but my wife's machine upgraded to 10 the other day, and much though it hurts me to say it, it seems fine. Might even use it a bit.

 

My youngest got caught out the other day by having hers upgrade from 8 to 10 because she had the optional updates ticked. She only realised what was happeninh when she clocked the on screen message that it was 'Upgrading' Windows rather than 'Updating' it.

 

So far hers too has been fine - fingers crossed.

[bag 'o' bones]

My computer has been upgraded for some time and working well. Didn't experience any problems with the update.

 

The point I'm trying to make is if your computer suffers hard disc failure rendering the operating system and back up inoperable then you have to rely on an iso/original disc and the corresponding activation code. As far as i'm aware there is no way of proving that you upgraded unless Microsoft recorded it off site.

[Rob-M]

The free upgrade logged a unique ID associated with your computer hardware with Microsoft. If the computer fails you can reinstall from the Windows 10 ISO as long as you haven't replaced any key hardware such as the motherboard. At least this is my understanding.

[PeterG]

I tried the upgrade to Windows 10 on my desktop but had stability issues with it so had to go back to the original Windows 7 that I had previously and this is now working fine. Massive amount of effort required to go backwards again which I had no choice as there was a hardware incompatability with Windows 10.

 

My computer is a Dell not in the first flush of youth but still very usable.

 

So much for a free upgrade!

Edited June 24, 2016 by PeterG

[Guest]

The free upgrade logged a unique ID associated with your computer hardware with Microsoft. If the computer fails you can reinstall from the Windows 10 ISO as long as you haven't replaced any key hardware such as the motherboard. At least this is my understanding.

 

Mine too.

[Señor Chris]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2016/may/26/10-quick-questions-about-installing-windows-10-and-how-to-block-it

 

"When you upgraded, Microsoft stored your PC’s hash code on its activation server. You can now upgrade to Windows 10 whenever you like, even after the free upgrade offer ends."

[bag 'o' bones]

The free upgrade logged a unique ID associated with your computer hardware with Microsoft. If the computer fails you can reinstall from the Windows 10 ISO as long as you haven't replaced any key hardware such as the motherboard. At least this is my understanding.

Think that answers the question. cheers. I seem to recall Microsoft saying something along the lines that windows 10 would be fully supported for as long as the computer is capable of running it, either until the machine is so hopelessly out of date hardware wise or it cannot be repaired economically (lets face it if the motherboard fails on a 5 year old machine its effectively scrap)

[Bloomsberry]

Just worth mentioning that the windows 10 upgrade is over 3gb in size so if you've got limited monthly bandwidth like me then you need to consider how the download is going to impact on your monthly data allowance and whether it is worth the loss of data.

[markgregoryuk2000]

I installed a new (SSD) hard disk when I upgraded to Windows 10 so did a clean install on the new disk using the Windows 10 DVD created from the ISO down loaded vie the following Microsoft link.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

 

This can also be used to update machines saving some bandwidth if you can get a friend to download the ISO.

 

The machine really needs 4GB ram in my experience and I was annoyed that AMD had not produced W10 drivers for HD4000 series graphics cards although the default drivers did at least get the machine working. Nvidia appear to have been better at creating W10 drivers for older hardware.

 

Note the tool to download the ISO will also get around the problem of installing/updating windows 10 if it thinks the hardware is incompatible (I replaced a graphics card on 1 machine that the windows 10 compatibility checker refused to see).

 

For the original question, as far as I know Microsoft keep track of upgraded machines so if you lose your hard disk you can reinstall windows 10 using the windows7/8 license code (don't throw it away after the update).

[bottle]

Just worth mentioning that the windows 10 upgrade is over 3gb in size so if you've got limited monthly bandwidth like me then you need to consider how the download is going to impact on your monthly data allowance and whether it is worth the loss of data.

 

go to the pub and use the free wi-fi.

[Grassman]

I kept getting 'pop up's offering me an upgrade to Windows 10 and several times I nearly accidentally clicked on it. So I downloaded something called

No Windows10 and it stopped appearing.

 

If like me you don't want to inadvertently download windows 10, 'Google' it, read the reviews and make your own decision, but so far 2 months later it seems to have done the trick and has caused no other issues with my computer.

[Rick-n-Jo]

I kept getting 'pop up's offering me an upgrade to Windows 10 and several times I nearly accidentally clicked on it. So I downloaded something called

No Windows10 and it stopped appearing.

 

If like me you don't want to inadvertently download windows 10, 'Google' it, read the reviews and make your own decision, but so far 2 months later it seems to have done the trick and has caused no other issues with my computer.

 

Similar free program is GWX Control Panel. I use it, like it so much I sent the guy some money.

 

(Dell Inspiron Zino PC and laptop, both running Win7)

[Guest]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36640464

 

Microsoft has agreed to pay a Californian woman $10,000 (£7,500) after an automatic Windows 10 update left her computer unusable.

Teri Goldstein said her Windows 7 computer had automatically tried to update itself to Windows 10 without her permission.

She said the update had made her machine unstable, leaving her unable to use it to run her business.